I agree with Arthur Hausner--this is an exceptional film for film history buffs. It's included on Disk 2 of the 3 disk set for "The Jazz Singer". The extras on Disk 2 are particularly on the history of sound film and its technology, while Disk 3 consists of early sound shorts.
OKAY FOR SOUND was made for the twentieth anniversary of the Vitaphone sound process. This system for synchronizing sound with film (using a complicated used of a specially designed record) was introduced in 1926 with the film DON JUAN. In OKAY FOR SOUND, the entire preliminary showcase of talking and musical shorts (which was shown before DON JUAN) is shown in a very truncated form--with small excepts from each short film. As for DON JUAN, it was not a talking picture but had the first recorded musical accompaniment that was perfectly synchronized with the film. Then, a short history of how sound was created for movies was recreated using actors followed by an explanation of the process. Following this are lots and lots of clips of Warner Brothers films--sort of like a big ad for the studio.
Overall, very informative--especially in the first portions. As for the clips of newer Warner films, this wasn't especially necessary.
OKAY FOR SOUND was made for the twentieth anniversary of the Vitaphone sound process. This system for synchronizing sound with film (using a complicated used of a specially designed record) was introduced in 1926 with the film DON JUAN. In OKAY FOR SOUND, the entire preliminary showcase of talking and musical shorts (which was shown before DON JUAN) is shown in a very truncated form--with small excepts from each short film. As for DON JUAN, it was not a talking picture but had the first recorded musical accompaniment that was perfectly synchronized with the film. Then, a short history of how sound was created for movies was recreated using actors followed by an explanation of the process. Following this are lots and lots of clips of Warner Brothers films--sort of like a big ad for the studio.
Overall, very informative--especially in the first portions. As for the clips of newer Warner films, this wasn't especially necessary.